Brussels to Amsterdam

A new day, a new country.  After four nights in Belgium's capital, we headed out to a new country for us, the Netherlands.  We enjoyed Brussels, which does not attract many tourists, but it was time to say good-by and move on to a new country.
Brussels' Nord station is a perfect example of how not to do something right.  While dozens of trains come and go each hour, the signage and information is very difficult.  To top that off, it is often necessary to haul your luggage (and we had more than enough) up and down staircases and onto trains, since there is no checked baggage service on the trains.
Donna made sure we got to the station in plenty of time and we eventually made it to the correct platform for our 10:55 departure.  We were able to heft our 50 pound bag and two others onto the passenger car, only to discover that nearly all the overhead luggage racks and seats were taken.  We never saw any of the railroad personnel and finally found an empty seat to handle our heaviest bag.
We weren't aware that this was not an express train, and many stops were made along the way including two airports, Antwerp and several stops too obscure to mention.  At many of these stops, some passengers would exit and others would enter, finally giving us a chance to sit together.
We passed through numerous Belgian towns and some scenic countryside and soon found ourself in the Netherlands.  The only way we knew this is that the license plates on the automobiles had changed. 
Many people use the words "Holland" and "the Netherlands" interchangeably, but this is not correct.  Holland is part of the country of the Netherlands.  True, it is the most heavily populated part and the most famous.  To further complicate matters, we refer to these people as Dutch.  Traveling across the flat lands of Holland, we saw many scenes that remind us of the stories of our chilldhood; wonderfully flat fields drained by canals, neat houses, and even windmills.  To be fair the windmills are not the picturesque type of the story books, but are modern, three-bladed wind generators.  We did not see any stout, rosy-cheeked farmers wearing wooden clogs, but that is reality.
Soon we came to the industrial heartland of the country.  Rotterdam, Europe's chief port as well as other cities showed the savvy of the modern Dutch people, as factories, warehouses, barges and tank farms sprouted on both sides of us.
Three hours after the start of our train trip, we pulled into Amsterdam's central terminal, a modern and efficient facility, complete with elevators and easier access.  Under no circumstances would I recomment rail travel in Eupore to anyone with mobility challenges.  It appears that those individuals are simply forgotten by the system
A short taxi ride brought us to the Hotel Carlton, in the heart of Amsterdam.  The view from our room was incredible and we were soon off in search of adventure.
Details will follow in our next blog entry.
Oh, by the way, our rail tickets were never checked..

Donn a inspects the Flower Market

Dutch countryside